The Fire Science Academy (FSA) in Jubail has announced the graduation of the first group of Saudi airport firefighters who received the internationally recognized Pro Board professional emergency responder certification. The class of 2019 is the first airport group within the Kingdom to attain the prestigious international certification. Class graduates have been trained at FSA to serve in professional responder roles within the fire and rescue departments of King Fahd International Airport, operated by the Dammam Airports Company (DACO), and employed by SERCO Middle East.
Following 18 weeks of intensive training, examinations and evaluations, the class received certificates in the fields of hazardous materials, firefighting, rescue, emergency vehicle driving and operation, in accordance with the National Fire Protection Association’s (NEPA) professional qualification standards. The certification is approved by the General Authority of Civil Aviation of Saudi Arabia.
Professionalism has long been a goal sought by members of the fire service. It has only been within the past 25 years that a system has evolved to produce national professional qualifications standards that an agency can use to establish performance measures for personnel.
Pro Board is a US-based accreditation entity responsible for certifying professional emergency responders. The purpose of the Pro Board is to establish an internationally recognized means of acknowledging professional achievement in the fire service.
The accreditation process begins with the submission of an application, including a detailed self study document, by the organization seeking accreditation. The application package is then reviewed by the members of the Committee on Accreditation (COA) for completeness and compliance with the accreditation criteria of the Pro Board. The next step is a site visit by a team of COA members, usually two, who perform an extensive on-site review of the organization’s testing and certification processes. The site visit team prepares a report and presents it to the COA. The COA decides if accreditation is granted.
Saudi Arabia is home to the largest internationally accredited emergency response training school in the Middle East, the Fire Science Academy. FSA is equipped with state-of-the-art training facilities and is dedicated to the development of Saudi nationals pursuing a career as internationally certified professional emergency responders.
FSA provides training and certification for many Saudi companies and government agencies that require special emergency response personnel. FSA is dedicated to developing international training and certification standards within Saudi Arabia in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.
